Peter Jackson and the cast of The Hobbit are currently in New Zealand shooting pick ups for The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again . The director says that these shoots are the “last ever” time they’re filming a Tolkien movie.

The photo shared on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director’s official Facebook page depicts him standing behind Ian McKellen, who is in costume to play Gandalf.

“Back on set for our last Hobbit pick ups,” he wrote. “Our last ever Tolkien pick ups, in fact. It’s going to be an intense few weeks, but we’re looking forward to shooting some powerful scenes with our great cast. Our next blog is coming soon!”

In the movie industry, “pick ups” are additional shots that the crew realizes they need only after they’re finished with the original shoot.

We presume The Hobbit star Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, is currently down in New Zealand as well. The actor recently wrapped filming of Sherlock season 3, episode 2, and will return to the set of 221B later this year to film the final episode for the season alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.

We’re not surprised that Jackson said that there are a “few weeks” of filming needed for the two Hobbit films. When the cast and crew were last shooting, they only thought they were making two movies total. Now it’s a trilogy, so additional scenes need to be added to ensure all three films are feature length.

When making his announcement of a trilogy last July, Jackson said that they would make use of Tolkien’s appendices published in the back of The Return of the King.

Many fans hope that we’ll one day journey back to Middle Earth using Tolkien’s Silmarillion, but no movie rights are owned at this time.